The American deception epidemic: why public relations practitioners should take notice

2014-08-04Deception is a parasite that is permeating through American society. Consciously or not, and at some point or another, everybody has been a victim or perpetrator of deception. From exaggerating on a resume in the hopes of getting a job offer, to taking credit for work performed by a coworker, making a promise to someone with the intention of breaking it, and misrepresenting a client to achieve a deliverable, today’s cultural environment is a breeding ground of deception. This paper, therefore, examines this deception epidemic that is plaguing the United States. It chronicles its severely widespread nature in daily life, demonstrates how it has seeded itself in history and explains its ongoing propensity through an extensive examination into human behavior. A sophisticated body of research that has come about over the years offers evidence that an increased perception and heightened awareness of others’ behaviors, like facial expressions, body language and statement analysis can be a window into their true emotions. The relatively recent cultural shift towards a more visual world as attributed to the influx of images, photographs and videos suggests that people have an increased visual acuity that can be channeled into helping them be more cognizant of others. Six mini‐cases featuring the public deception of two professional athletes and four politicians in televised interviews and press conferences are analyzed. The principal conclusion is that public relations (PR) practitioners will be better communicators, build more trust with their stakeholders and build better reputations for themselves with an increased cognizance and use of deception detection techniques